THE great passion of Life for a politician is travel. Never get between them and the immigration desk. Every minute of every day you can safely assume there's a politician in the air, somewhere.
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Tasmanian Senator and Senate president Stephen Parry is proposing a cap of $250,000 on his overseas travel, unlimited trip numbers instead of a cap of five, and the Senate approving his overseas travel itinerary rather than the Prime Minister's office.
With his known quirky sense of humour, the Senator would appreciate that this sounds like the school kid who tells mum he'll settle for a cap on the value of her cookies but wants unlimited trips to the cooky jar, plus approval rights.
Senator Parry's proposed cap of $250,000 a year in travel entitlement is 12 times the annual aged pension. It makes us curious as to what his take-out was from the Bronwyn Bishop saga.
Of course our senior office holders in Federal Parliament have to hob-nob it with the rich and powerful from overseas. Senator Parry is the front line host for heads of state when they visit Parliament House. He's high up on the pecking order.
We also live in an era of constant restraint. His government is desperate for budget options such as spending cuts and tax changes, even tax changes imposed on superannuation and pensions, and in this climate he's worried about the number of overseas junkets he can take.
He should reflect on Joe Hockey's "age of entitlement" and spend more time on options for maximising the nation's wealth for better services while being fair towards battlers.
Apparently he won another six-year term in a safe Senate ballot spot by one vote at the last pre-selection contest. It would have been a sober reminder that the age of entitlement is not a permanent tenure.
He should tell us more about what he's doing for this state and less about his travel plans.
